Japan’s National Diet has officially passed a landmark amendment that clearly places crypto assets within the scope of financial assets, fully ending their long-standing “payment and settlement tool” auxiliary classification. In the industry’s view, this legislative move is a “watershed” moment in the evolution of Japan’s digital asset regulatory framework—it not only reshapes the domestic legal foundation of crypto assets, but also materially opens the institutional-capital entry gate and the regulatory gate for product innovation.

The core change is the reconfiguration of “identity.” Previously, under Japan’s Payment Services Act, crypto assets mainly served a value-transfer function. This amendment embeds them within the framework of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, meaning crypto assets will receive legal protections, disclosure requirements, and investor-eligibility rules equivalent to those applied to traditional securities. This shift directly clears up legal ambiguity for two key scenarios: first, it provides a clear higher-law basis for the approval pathway of crypto ETFs; second, it makes compliant investment routes for long-term capital—such as pension funds and insurance institutions—for the first time clearly actionable.

Tax policy follows in sync, but with an order to the timetable. The legislation simultaneously locks in a standardized tax rate of 20% (for trading gains), replacing the prior progressive tax burden of up to 55% under the miscellaneous income tax regime. This “flat tax” design significantly reduces tax-friction costs for high-frequency trading and institutional market makers; however, full implementation still awaits the issuance of a Cabinet order and the final release of detailed rules from the National Tax Agency. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has already initiated the tax system adjustment process, and is expected to complete technical calibration within the year.

Market expectations and realization timeline: although the amendment has been enacted, the large-scale inflow of local traditional capital still requires two “final pieces” to be put in place—first, the Financial Services Agency must issue concrete operational guidelines for ETF products (including benchmark index standards, custody requirements, creation/redemption mechanisms, and so on); second, the specific scope of application for the 20% tax rate and the rules for carrying forward losses must be clarified. Based on the current administrative progress, supporting ETF regulations may take shape in 2026 Q4, with the tax-rate details finalized at the same time—at which point crypto-asset allocations by traditional financial institutions such as banks, securities firms, and trusts will move from a “testing period” into a “substantive allocation period.”
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